Weitz & Luxenberg attorney and executive member of the New Jersey Association for Justice (NJAJ) Ellen Relkin will speak at the Association’s 2018 Mass Torts Seminar. A program co-chair for the conference, Ms. Relkin will participate in the seminar’s panel on the implications of the New Jersey Supreme Court’s recent Accutane decisions.

In August, the New Jersey Supreme Court held that the federal Daubert evidence standard was consistent with New Jersey standards for judges to evaluate the methodology of scientific evidence before trial lawyers can present it to a jury and decided to incorporate some “Daubert factors” but not incorporate the full body of federal court Daubert case law.

Just last month, the New Jersey Supreme Court, in a companion decision, decided the issue of whether New Jersey law on the adequacy of drug warning labels or the law of the plaintiff’s home state governed. The Court found that for all cases filed in a New Jersey Multi-County Litigation, New Jersey Law governed. The Court then interpreted the meaning of the New Jersey statute that an FDA approved drug label is presumed to be adequate but that presumption can be rebutted. The Court crafted a new exception to this statute.

“These decisions can have a significant impact on the prosecution of cases against drug companies in New Jersey and need to be carefully analyzed,” said Ms. Relkin. “On behalf of my co-chairs, Lynne M. Kizis and Adam B. Lederman, I would like to thank the NJAJ for creating an important forum for attorneys to discuss the impact of this decision and how we will move forward with cases in the state.”

Meadowlands Seminar attendees can attend panels with top legal experts discussing judicial perspectives on the evolved evidence standard, warnings law and choice of law and how the decisions apply to future mass tort and other cases in New Jersey.